Presser foot for sewing machines



9 1,508,768 sept l 2% J. BERGER PRE SSER FOOT FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed May 23, 1921 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 J. BERGER 'Pazssmn FOOT FOR szwme-ncnmas Filo i 14:123. 1921 QSheets-Sheet 2 I Patented Sept. 16,19 24 .sirso stares JOSEPH BERGER, OF UTICA, NEW YORK,

ASSIGNOB T0 UNION SPECIAL MACHINE COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATICN OF ILLINOIS.

PRESSER FOOT FOR SEWING MACHINES.

Application filed May 23,

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, Josnrrr BERGER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Utica, in the county of Oneida, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Presser Feet for Sewing Machines, of which the following is a description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, and to the figures of reference marked thereon.

The invention relates to new and useful improvements in presser feet for sewing machines, and more particularly to a presser foot which is adapted tobe used in connection with the forming of a fiat covered seam.

An object of the invention is to provide a presser foot of the above type having a slot for guiding and overlapping the edge portions of fabric sections, with a vertically movable section in rear of the, hole in the presser foot for the needles, which movable section is adapted to yield to accommodate the overlapped portions of the fabric sections and at the same time firmly press said sect-ions into contact with the feed dog to insure a free feeding of the fabric sections.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a presser foot of the above type with a yieldable section at one side of the presser foot and extending to a point in advance of the needle hole, which yieldable section is depressed by springs engaging the shank of the yieldable section and also engaging the foot portion thereof at a point near the front end of the yieldable section.

A further object of the invention is toprovide a presser foot 'ofthe abovetype having a hole for a plurality of needles with. an adjustable stitch finger which may be shifted laterally of the line of stitching for properly positioning the stitch finger relative to the needles.

These and other objects will in part be obvious and will in part be hereinafter more fully disclosed.

In the drawings, which show by way of illustration one embodiment of the invention:'

Figure 1 is a view of a portion of a feedofi-the-arm machine having my improved presser foot applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is'a plan view of the same with certain parts in section on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

1921. Serial No. 471,751.

Fig, 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but from the other side of the machine and with certain parts in section;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line 4-4: of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a view, partly in side elevation and partly in longitudinal section, through the end of the work supporting arm and the presser foot ;s f Fig. 6 is a bottom plan view of the presser oot;

Fig. 7 is a top plan view of the presser foot with parts broken away, to show the manner of mounting one of the auxiliary yielding sections Fig. 8 is a vertical section on the line 8-8 of Fig. .5;

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of one of the yieldable sections and the movable section' Fig. 10 is a plan view of the stitch finger removed from the presser foot; and

Fig. 11 is a plan view of the throat plate and the fabric engaging sections of the feed dogs.

My improved presser foot, as above noted, is particularly adapted for a machine for making fiat covered seams, that is, for joining two fabric sections, while their edges are flat and not folded, by cross connected lines of stitching which not only join the fabric sections but cover the raw edges thereof. The fabric sections are slightly overlapped and are joined by a three needle stitch covering mechanism wherein the center needle passes through the overlapped The presser foot is provided with a slot leading into the front end thereof which is in line with the hole through which. the needle passes. This slot guides the upturned edges of the fabric sections so that they may be trimmed, and then said trimmed edges, through the shaping of the walls of -the"slot, are caused to overlap one upon the other and are thus directed to the stitching mechanism.

The. presser foot consists of a main section and a yieldable section extending alongside of the main section and at one side of the needle. The presser foot also includes a movable section located directly in rear of the needles and. which bears on the overlapped fabric sections. Said yieldable section is located in a recess in the presser foot and is yieldingly but firmly pressed into engagement with the overlapped portions of the fabric sections after they are stitched and holds them in contact with the section of the feed dog so as to insure the proper feed of the fabric sections. There is also a second yieldable section at the front end of the main portion of the presser foot which holds the fabric sections in contact with the auxiliary feed dog. Stitch fingers are provided which extend between the needles and serve to aid in the forming of enchained loops when there is no fabric in the machine, and these stitch fingers are carried by a supporting arm which is adjustable so that the stitch fingers may be shifted laterally of the line of stitching for properly positioning the same relative to the needles.

I have shown my improved presser foot as applied to a machine of the feed-ofi-thearm type. Said machine includes a work supporting arm 1 which is provided with a throat plate 2 at its forward end, and feed dogs 3 and 4 which are provided with fabric engaging sections workin in suitable slots in the throat plate, as indicated in Fig. 11. The throat plate is provided with a needle hole 5 and stitch fingers 6. The needles are indicated at 7, 8 and 9 in Fig. 2. These needles are carried by a needle bar 10 which is of the usual construction. The material is fed off fromthe end of the arm by the feed dogs 3 and 4.

Cooperatin with the feed dog is a presser foot 11. Sai presser foot 11 is carried by apresser bar 12 which is of the usual construction. Said presser foot consists of a main section 13 which is rigidly clamped to the presser bar 12. Located at one side 0 the main section 13 is a yielding section 14. Said yielding section 14, as shown in Fig. 9, is provided with a shank 15 having an elongated opening 16 therethrough. Said shank is mounted in a suitable guideway in the main portion of the presser foot 13. Said foot is provided with vertical walls 17 and 18 which form the guideway. A boss 19 carried b the main section of the foot (see Fig. 8 extends through the elongated slot 16 and serves to limit the downward movement of the auxiliary foot portion 14.

A spring 20 secured to the main portion of the foot by a screw 21 has its free end pressin against the upper end of the shank 15, an this normally forces the yieldable section downwardly. A second spring 22 secured to the main section of the foot by a screw 23 has its free end bent and extendlng into an opening 24 in the auxiliary foot section 14, and wardlyupon the yieldable section 14' of the presser foot. It will be noted that this spring engages the auxiliary section well toward its forward end and insures that the forward end of the presser foot will be pressed downwardly and held firmly in contact with the material and in turn hold the material firmly in contact with the fabric engaging sections of the feed dog extending underneath the same. If there is any play between the guiding walls 17 and 18 and the shank 15, this spring 22 insures that the forward end of the foot will be forced downwardly.

The presser foot is also provided with a slot 25 which extends from the front end of the foot rearwardly and in line with the needle hole 26 through which the needles pass. Said slot is adapted to receive upturned edges of fabric sections. Mounted on the main section of the presser foot is a stationary blade 27 of a trimming mechanism, and a movable blade 28 carried by an arm 29 cooperates with this stationary blade in the trimming of the upturned edges of the fabric sections. After the edges have been trimmed, the slot-and the immediate parts of the throat plate in rear of the trimming blades are constructed so as to turn down the upturned edges into overlapped relation. This particular shaping of the gu1ding slot, the trimming of the upturned edges and the overlapping of the same before they reach the stitching mechanism forms no part of the present inventlon per se but is shown and fully described and claimed in my prior Patent No. 1,294,226, of Februar 11, 1919, and, therefore, further detail escription thereof is not thought necessary.

The overlapped edges of the fabric sections are directed across the hole 26 for the needles. Also mounted on the main secf tion of the presser foot are stitch fingers 30. These stitch fingers are carried by an arm 31 which is set in a groove in the 1113.111 section of the foot and is held therein by a clamping plate 32. Said arm 31 may be adjusted lengthwise, and this provides a means for shifting the stitch fingers laterally relative to the line of stitching. If, for any reason, the needles are not properly lined with the stitch fingers due to faulty construction in the foot, the stitch fingers may be readily shifted so as to properly position them between the needles and without any side shifting of the main part of the foot which, of course, would be objectionable in a type of foot where the fabric sections are trimmed and overlapped to a redetermined extent through a folding an guiding slot formed in the presser foot itself.

Directly in rear of the hole 26 for the needles, the main section for the presser said spring also presses downfoot is recessed, as shown at 33, in Fig. 8, and located within this recess is a movable foot section 34. Said movable foot section is provided with a shank 35 similar to the shank of the yieldable section of the presser foot. This shank 35 lies between the guidin walls 17 and 18. and is guided thereby. l spring 36 bears on the upper end of the shank 35 and normally presses said shank downwardly. The shank 35 is provided with an elongated slot 37 through Which the boss 19 projects. The two shanks 15 and 35 are held in their guidingrecess by means of a cover plate 38 which is secured to the main portion of the foot by suitable screws, indicated at 39, 40 and 41, the screw 39 being threaded into the boss 19. The opening 37 is so proportioned that the foot section 34 never passes below the lower surface of the main section of the presser foot. This is not necessary nor desirable. The loops are enchained when no fabric is passing through the machine by the stitch fingers and, therefore, this foot section 34 plays no part in the feeding of the chain when fabric sections are passing underneath the front end of the foot. The sole purpose} of this movable section 34 is to accommodate the overlapped portions of the fabric scetions and to hold said overlapped portions in feeding contact with the section of the feed dog 3 which is directlyin rear of the needles (see Fig. 11). The foot section 34 may be heldrigidly in its lowermost position, that is, flush with the under surface of the presser foot, by an adjustable screw 43 and thus the presser foot inrear of the needles is in effect a solid section. When the edge portionsof the fabric sections are overlapped, the thickness is, ,of'

course, increased, and this increased thickness in the. seam is taken care of in rear of the needle hole by the movable section 34. It will be noted that the slot 33 in the presser foot extends from the needle hole to the rear edge of the foot and the yielding section is located in this recess. The yieldipg section moves upwardly in the recess-*so as to form aproper space for the overlapped edges of the fabric sections, and this space extends from the needle opening to the rear end of the foot so that the overlapped sections do not raise unduly the main portion of the foot. The yielding section bearing on these overlapped sections will, however, hold them in proper engagement with. the feed dogs so that there will be a uniform feeding action of all of the sections of the feed dog on the fabricsections.

Then again, it often occurs that there are two thicknesses of the fabric on one side and only one or the other. In such a case, the yielding section 14, which can move to a position beneath the surface of the main section, will engage the single thiclmess,

while the main section engages the double thickness, or the yieldable section may move to a position above the body of the main surface of the presser foot and engage the fabric sections of two thicknesses, While the main section engages a single thickness of fabric. It will be readily seen, therefore, by the yieldable section and the movable section and the main section of the presser foot, the fabric will be held against the feed dog throughout the entire extent of the presser foot so that all parts of the feed dog will be active to feed the respective portions of the fabric sections engaged thereby.

In order to insure that the fabric in front of the needles will be fed by the differential feed dog when cross seams are passing through the machine, I have provided an auxiliary presser foot section 44. Said auxiliary section 44is located in the main section of the foot 13 andat a point well in advance of the hole for the needles and directly over a portion of the differential feed dog. Said auxiliary section 44 is rigidly carried by a shank 45 which moves in a suitable guideway in the main foot so that the section can move up and down vertically.-

Said shank 45 is secured to a pivoted arm 46 by means of a, screw 47, see Fig. 2. The opening in the arm 46 is sufficiently large so as to allow the arm to swing and the shank of the auxiliary section 44 to move vertically. This arm is yieldingly pressed downwardly by means of a spring 48 and the arm is limited in its downward movement by coming against the upper face of the presser foot.

Cooperating with the needles beneath the work support is a loo'per 49 which en ages each of the needle loops. The needle loops above the work support are also connected by a cross thread which is laidby a suitable mechanism not shown in detail.

It is obvious that minor changes in the details of construction and-the arrangement of the parts may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed'as new is 1. The combination with a stitch forming mechanism for forming covering stitches including a plurality of needles, of a feed dog and a presser foot, said presser foot in cluding means for overlapping the edge portions of fabric sections in advance of the stitch forming mechanism said presser foot having an opening for the needles and a recess extending from said opening to the rear end of said presser foot, and a vertically yieldable presser foot section disposed in rear of said needles in said recess and cooperating with the feed dog to feed said overlapped portions of the fabric sections and for automatically compensating for different thicknesses in said overlapped edge portions.

2. The combination with a stitch forming mechanism for forming covering stitches including a plurality of needles, of a feed dog and a presser foot, said presser foot including means for trimming the edges of fabric sections, means for overlapping the trimmed edge portions'of the fabric sections in advance of the stitch forming mechanism said presser foot having an opening for the needles and a recess extending from said opening to the rear end of said presser foot, and a vertically yieldable presser foot section disposed in rear of 'said needles in said recess and cooperating with the feed dog to feed said overlapped portions of the fabric sections and for automatically compensatmg for different thicknesses in the fabric sections.

3. The combination with a stitch forming mechanism for forming covering stitches including a plurality of needles, of a feed dog and a presser foot, said'presser foot including means for overlapping the edge portions of fabric sections in advance of the stitch forming mechanism said presser foot having an opening for the needles and a recess extending from said opening to the rear endof said presser foot, and a vertically yieldable presser foot section disposed in rear of said needles in said recess and cooperating with the feed dog to feed said overlapped portions of the fabric sections and for automatically compensating for different thicknesses in said overlapped edge portions, said presser foot having yielding portions on opposite sides of the vertically yielding section.

4. The combination of a stitch forming mechanism for forming covering stitches,-of a presser foot having a slot extending from the-front of the foot rearwardly and in line with the hole for the needles, said slot being shaped so as to turn down upturned portions of fabric sections passing along the slot into overlapped relation, said presser foot having a recess extending from the needle hole rearwardly to the extreme end of the presser foot, a movable section located in said recess, a spring for yieldingly pressing said movable section into engagement with the overlapped portions of the fabric sections, and stitch fingers carried by the main portion of the presser foot and extending rearwardly into the needle hole.

5. The combination with stitch forming mechanism for forming covering stitches, of a presser foot having a slot extending from the front of the foot rearwardly and in line with the hole for the needles, said slot being shaped so as to turn down upturned portions of fabric sections passing along the slot into overlapped relation, said presser foot havmg a recess in rear of 'the hole for the needles, a movable sect-ion located in said recess, and a spring for yieldingly pressing said movable section into engagement with the overlapped portions of the fabric sections, means for limitin the downward movement of said yieldlng section, and means for locking said yielding section in its extreme lowermost position for rigidly holding said section in fixed relation to the main portion of the presser foot.

6. The combination with stitch forming mechanism for forming covering stitches including a plurality of needles, of a presser foot comprising a main portion having a hole therethrough for the needles, a yieldable section at one side of said main section, said presser foot having a slot extending from the front of the foot rearwardly and in line with the hole for the needles, said slot being shaped so as to turn down upturned fabric edges passing along the slot into overlapped relation, said main section having an open-- ing therethrough adjacent its forward end, a yielding foot section mounted in said opening, said section having a supporting shank, a pivoted arm carried by said main section and loosely connected to said supporting shank, a spring normally pressing said arm downwardly so as to force said yielding section downwardly when the presser foot is raised for holding the fabric sections underneath the same in cooperative relation with the feed dog.

7. The combination with a stitch forming mechanism for forming covering stitches including a plurality of needles, of a presser foot comprising a main portion having a hole therethrough for the needles, a yieldable section at one side of said main section, said presser foot having a slot extending from the front of the foot rearwardly and in line with the hole for the needles, said slot being shaped so as to turn down upturned fabric edges passing along the slot into overlapped relation, said main section having an opening therethrough adjacent its forward end, a yielding foot section mounted in said opening, said section having a supporting shank, a pivoted arm carried by said-main section and loosely connected to said supporting shank, a spring normally pressing said arm downwardly so as to force said yielding sectiondownwardly when the presser foot is raised for holding the fabric sections underneath the same in cooperative relation with the feed dog, said presser foot having a recess in rear of the hole for the needles extending to the rear end'of the presser foot, and a yielding section located in said recess and co-operating with the feed dog to feed the overlapped portions of fabric sections.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature.

JOSEPH BERGER. 

